A King no More
by GreenspireTC
Summary: Romulus Augustulus was ounce a prince of the roman empire, but when his father was killed he leaves to war for vengeance.


_Prologue_

This story takes place during a time of war. The Roman Empire was at its height in 200 A.D., but now in 700 A.D., barbarians that the Romans had once enslaved were at their gate**s**. An incompetent young ruler sat back while Rome was sacked by an alliance of Visigoths, who were once slaves to the Romans thanks to the Hunnic Empire and Vandals, ancient rivals of the Roman**s**. They starved the city so well that the people of Rome ate the bodies of dead gladiators. After starving the city, they entered it, stealing and killing anybody they wanted. The Romans were unable to fight back, leaving the whole of their empire a mess. Due to this crisis, the Roman Empire moved its capital to the stronghold in the north of Italy known as Ravenna. And the emperor, well, he got murdered by his own elite bodyguards. Meanwhile, in the far Northern province of Britannia, soldiers were drawn out to stop the Visigoth invasion and the province was given up to Celtic barbarians such as the Picts from Caledonia, as well as the Hibernians, allowing them to raid the Albany Islands. But one barbarian of Roman ancestry took control of land that was in Central Britannia called Mercia . This barbarian's name was Vortigern, who was having trouble keeping the Picts and Hibernians out of his kingdom, but some say he even drove them to the Waeld and the far-reaching marshes of war raged in the North, in Rome it was the same as ever, murder and chaos. The new emperor, Orestus, was killed by a barbarian shrouded in mystery so much so that no one knew his name. He just seemed to appear out of the shadows and end an empire of Roman rule. Some call him Odacer, meaning death, but all that is known about him for sure is that he spared the emperor's son and that was a decision he would soon regret.

_Chapter 1_

I looked at the dirty walls of the peasant's hut. "Please do explain," said the peasant named Sigibert.

"Explain what?," I asked.

"Why you arrived here in a Roman aristocrat's clothes, why you were nearly starving, pale and thin when we found you on that cold winter night, who you were running from, who are you!?" said Amman, Sigiberts wife.

I tried to open my mouth but the words never fully formed and a glistening tear fell down my face, in utter despair and my mind wandered to the days I had spent my childhood in. I remembered the seven hills and the grapes, oh yes the grapes and the olive oil and the food, and oh what grand palaces that sacred city had! Over time I had learned to forget the words Rome, aqueduct, and….. , my father. My dam for the memories of the past was breaking, flowing in like one great tidal wave sweeping me ashore to my father's death, stabbed again, then again, again and again all I wanted to do was fight the shady barbarian scum that killed him. Yes, but I had to hold back, I knew it wasn't real but I had to fight him. I had to, I had to. I gave out a great scream of rage, "_Ahhhh Orestus!_" I shouted in my head again and again. "_Orestus Orestus Orestus"._ My iron rage cooled once more, but like the bellows of the fire, it was released again and again and I couldn't stay away from the thought. It devoured me and the embers I had sparked turned to fire again and again. I fell to the floor crying and Amman and Sigibert massaged me gently, hoping to get some words out of me. But I latched on to the rhythm rocking back and forth and back and forth till I faded away from reality, my tears dying. I fell into a what was a thoughtless sleep with the gentle rhythm fading away into my slumber.

_Chapter 2_

_Orestus, no Orestus, father noooooooo_. I awoke with a blanket on my body, lying on the peasant's dirt floor. I found a small bowl of soup and I grabbed it quickly and slurped it down. "Honey, he's awake," said Sigibert and Amman entered the room.

"So, what's your story?" asked Amman.

"My name is Romulus Augustulus and I am the son of the Roman emperor Orestus. He was killed by a barbarian known as...Odacer."

_Chapter 3_

I left immediately after and blocked out the peasants' awestruck faces. The pub was a welcoming site. I put a few coins on the bar and I drank some mead to wash my troubles away. I kept my hood up. I was wanted by the king of Gaul, Childeric. He had helped in the destruction of the Roman Empire, barbarian scum. And not so smartly I was in his capital city, Avaricum. A man stood across from me. He looked Germanic with golden hair, a long mustache, and brawny arms. His hair had a lighter color than the Ingvaeonic peoples, like he lived in the far far North. "Long ago lads, when I was north of Orkney a great beast popped out of the water! It was 12 feet long and it had long tentacles that swiped and knocked every man aboard the ship off but me. I was the only one that lived to tell the tale." Wow, did this lad like to boast. Then he started talking about shipping Roman refugees to the Romans that were fighting to reclaim the Albany Isles. I could tell that he was drunk. I waited until his friends left and I tapped him on the shoulder. I said, "Look at the wanted posters, then look at me." He looked surprised. "I'll pay you enough for the sea voyage plus the risk of bringing me along if you sneak me to Brittany."

Guards were at the door so I lowered my voice. "Deal?"

"Deal," he said.

_Chapter 4_

"We need to keep the Visigoths at bay. In fact, I would like 100 border guards there by the end of the week. Iberia cannot be allowed to attack us."

"Yes, King Childeric," said the guard.

"Sir, I saw someone asking for a way to Brittania. I think we should investigate," said another

guard.

"Put a price on Romulus Augustulus's head, dead or alive I guarantee to you that it is him," Childeric stated.

"He's just a boy, I don't think you understand that," pleaded Austerchild, the Queen of Gaul.

"Oh please, my wife, don't think that I cannot act as king should," Childeric responded.

"Fine, come to his decapitation, then we can see if you're really as cold hearted as you say you are."

"Very well."

_Chapter 5_

I would have to work so I could pay off the money to the Germanic mann. So I worked for days and days till I plowed enough crops off of Amman and Sigibert's land until my pockets were full of cash and I had enough money to walk to Hilmberg himself and ferry a ride to Brittania.

_Chapter 6_

Guards were coming around the corner and I had a slight feeling that they were following me, so I snuck into an alley near my wooden thatch house.

"Maybe he went into that house," suggested a mercenary.

"Let's go," said the other mercenary.

Childeric entered the peasant's house and a great silence fell over the inhabitants.

"Where did Romulus Augustulus go?" said the king, pushing the peasants against the wall.

" Don't play this game with me, my mercenaries confirmed that you were hiding him. WHERE did he go?!" the king bellowed loudly out of frustration.

"He's a child! Even death himself spared him, so I suppose I'm just bragging about your monstrosity," said Amman.

"Burn them," said Childeric to the eager Germanic mercenaries.

Amman and Sigibert held hands and closed their eyes as they were covered in oil and torched. I had given the money to Hilmberg and ran off, peaking just around the alley. Oh how miserable I felt. They died because of me. It was my fault! All my fault! But one thing was for sure, I was no kid. I knew that I had almost lost my innocence. I heard a voice whisper in my ear. "Get behind me."

I turned around to see a woman in extravagant clothing with a determined look in her eyes.

"So was I wrong? Did you kill the boy?" said Austerchild.

"No my wife, I just burned an innocent peasant couple alive," said Childeric, almost gleefully.

The queen leaned over the picket fence and let disgust come out from her gut as puke fell on to the dirty city street. I saw Hilmberg peek his head down the end of the alley and beckoned me towards him.

"We've got to leave now boy, put your hood up," Hilmberg whispered.

I jumped, startled as I saw that a mercenary with an axe was blocking our way.

"Take this sword boy, you'll need it," said Hilmberg.

"Stay back," I said, with my sword up but my hand quivering.

"What ya gonna do boy? Put that weapon down," said the mercenary.

Hilmberg, looking apprehensive, said "Listen to me Augustulus, if you kill him, there will be no going back. You've seen people die, but you can still keep your innocence."

I never thought that it would be so hard to put a blade through a man. I needed to fight a war, so I had to be hardened, I had to kill. In the name of my father! I charged headlong at the man with all the motivation I had and my sword thrust through his chest as I dodged his axe. I felt the pain of guilt but then a wall appeared in my subconscious, blocking me from his image. Now, psychologically, I was ready to fight a war. But I could tell that I still had empathy for the human race-but not for my enemies. From now on, I would see the enemy as an alien and never again in his true form.

_Chapter 7_

"Run!"said Hilmberg. More and more mercenaries were on our tail. We arrived at the wooden fortified gates of the city and the guards quickly tried to pull up the drawbridge. Hilmberg grabbed a horse from a nearby stable and leaped out of the city, jumping over its wooden gates.

"Come on,"said Hilmberg. I grabbed a horse and rode it up the closing gates, lifting me so high that I could see the surprised faces of the sentinels. The horse's hooves hit the ground with a thud. The guards began to fire, pulling out their loaded crossbows. _Oh no_. The first bolt streaked across the sky landing ten legionnaires in front of us. The second shot nearly hit me, but instead struck Hilmberg near his armpit. He leaned over in pain on his horse but said "It's nothing serious. We need to get to this hill and then…" In the distance I could see a huge thicket.

"We've got to get into that thicket-they won't follow us into that hellhole. "

I could tell that they had let the mercenaries out of the city because the thud of metal hooves were heavy on the grassy plain. They were at the peak of the hill, so I sped up my steed, but it was no use. One of the mercenaries was right behind me. He swung his axe and it missed me by a very small margin. The thicket was closer than I thought and Hilmberg had already disappeared into its thorny interior. I jumped into the thicket with my pursuers right behind me. I left my horse and ran so far into the thicket that the crossbow bolts could not hit me. But I was hit by something. I jumped because at first I thought it could be a crossbow bolt, but when I looked up, _gahhh, it was a dead body._ I turned the other way and panicked to find another one. _Ahhhhhh they were all around me._ I felt sick looking up at the coiled horse hair ropes that these innocent people had been hung on. No wonder the mercenaries wouldn't follow us in here.

I regathered my party and Hilmberg jogged off, dodging thorns and branches. He began to tell a tale.

"Long ago the Celts of Gaul had a great empire. They traded using their wealth and obtained the finest fabrics and spices. But a huge thicket had blocked all their trade routes and their empire faded away into ruin. Whoever entered it never came came back. The Celts thought the god of the woods, Hunnorus, was angry with them, so they put up sacrifices throughout the thicket. But eventually their population was completely gone."

As I walked with this adventurous lad his voice seemed to reassure to me that I was going to accomplish my mission.


End file.
